Aspiring Twitter Competitor Releases Private-Messaging API

App.net, a paid service that launched with the intention of delivering all of the promise that Twitter had before it began to see itself as a website rather than a service, today launched a private messaging API with a mockup open-source app.

Before now, App.net’s paid API only supported public posts in a format similar to Twitter’s.

The API has generated some excitement among developers because it can be used in a number of increasingly high-demand contexts.

In addition to one-on-one chat capabilities, the API could for the basis of “an old-school AOL chat room,” said CEO Dalton Caldwell. It could also fuel a group texting app or collaboration tools like Hipchat or Campfire, Caldwell said.

App.net’s announcement of the new service also highlighted its possible use for the “Internet of things,” or a data-rich infrastructure.

A user could connect the tool to a digital front door lock such as Lockitron, for example, and program the lock to send a message if it is unlocked at a particular time of day.

“So the new private messaging on @appdotnet is wonderful. Very well thought out, not an afterthought like Twitter. Much more like chat,” tweeted the lead platform developer at Pocket.

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